Minutia
by Moonshine 369
Summary: A collection of Code Geass Oneshots. Ch. 4: Checkmate. Rolo is just a pawn in Zero's vast chess game, to be used and discarded. Rolo will play along for now, but Lelouch needs to know that, if needed, Rolo has a way to checkmate that works every time.
1. Cranes

**Being, well, _me_, I can't really look at _anything_ without thinking, "Well, what if _that_ had happened? Well, how would he react to _that,_ what would her views on _that_ be?" Hence my various one-shots. Code Geass is one of the series that makes me think without stopping, so it only made sense that I had a story I could put all of my thoughts into. Hence, Moments (a rather unimaginitive title. For those of you with creative genes-- aka, all of you-- I'm looking for a better title. If you have any suggestions, please help me out). I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

**NOTICE: _Moments_ may (or may not) contain spoilers up to r2 episode 10, as that's as far as I've gotten. Please refrain from putting any major spoilers in your reviews or anywhere. Thank you.**

* * *

**Title: Cranes  
Fiction Rating: K  
Genre: General/Reflections  
Characters: Various (Lelouch, Kallen, C.C., Nunally, Suzaku, and Rolo)  
Pairings: N/A  
**

**Summary: **Maybe it's not the actual creation of the elegant, beautiful paper crane that makes it so significant, but the thoughts that tend to occur while folding. Everyone knows someone who coud use a wish. Lelouch seems to be a pretty common subject.

**

* * *

******

Cranes

* * *

Lelouch flipped a page in his book, causing a cloud of dust to erupt from its underused pages. He scratched his nose and his eyes quickly fell back onto the pages.

"Ah! Someone's thinking about you!" Rivalz exclaimed loudly.

Lelouch gave him a look.

"What? You scratched your nose. It means—"

"I know what it means," Lelouch said calmly, looking back at his book. "But it's really just another absurd superstition."

"Whatever you say, Lelouch." Rivalz sighed knowingly. Sometimes it seemed like Lelouch could use some serious lightening up.

* * *

Kallen put down the clumsily made, askew and deformed bird and sank into her couch. She wasn't sure why she'd done that. It was one thousand cranes, not one, for a wish, right? Well, she was 99 percent sure that her wish was completely unnecessary, so she only needed the thousandth of a wish that the single crane would provide.

Honestly. He didn't need her bogus wishes.

Yet she couldn't stop herself five minutes ago from folding out the little bird, eyes glittering with a childish sense of excitement, an image of a beautiful, flawless finished project in her mind. Unfortunately, she hadn't paid any attention when Milly had shown the Student Council how to make them, so it truly was a wonder she could even make this… this paper disaster.

_Unnecessary_ paper disaster, at that.

Lelouch had everything under control.

She sank back into her the couch with a sigh, keeping her eyes fixed on the dead-looking bird on the table before her, and let her eyelids flutter closed. She had awful sleeping habits, staying awake all night. She was _tired._

After only seconds of this, she sat upright again and grabbed the crane. Her fingers moved nimbly, fixing a crease here, flattening the paper there… the finished product, while not as beautiful as she would've liked, was certainly less ugly than the first.

She suddenly felt embarrassed, like she'd been caught with her hand in a cookie jar, even though no one was around.

But it was true that…

Well, Zero… he needed all of the help he could get.

She looked at the bird. It looked back. Promptly, she crushed it in her palm.

Zero? Need _help_? That was just stupid.

* * *

C.C. removed her long hair from the pigtails and shook it loose. What a pain, having to go out like that, hiding. It certainly did make it difficult for her to acquire a good pizza.

If only things were simple. But of course that wasn't the case. If people could accept that as easily as she could, a life would be a considerably less difficult thing to lead.

C.C. sat in the nearest chair. She hated days like these, when Lelouch had to go to school to keep up airs. It certainly was a bore. Conquering the world had to be temporarily postponed.

C.C. smiled a little at her own inward remark. Her Zero… how ambitious he was. He was, if nothing else, amusing.

Maybe she'd go pick up a pizza anyway, say hello to Lelouch at school, laugh silently at his horrified and indignant expression, and then leave. That sounded entertaining.

She glanced down at the desk, where a blank piece of scrap paper laid, and folded a single crease down the middle, busying herself as she worked on her decision.

Hm.

She folded down the corners.

Unable to stop herself, she continued folding the way Lelouch's sister had shown her, pressing her delicate fingers hard against the weak paper, thinking of Nunally. What a silly girl, thinking she could change the world just by making a bunch of useless birds. In no time, her paper transformed into a life-like crane.

C.C. placed it on Zero's desk and set off to find some other source of entertainment.

Lelouch would know who the crane was from. After all, it was white as snow.

* * *

Nunally's garden was beautiful. She could felt it; feel the soft rose petals against her small fingers, smell the freesia and other perfumes wafting through the air… though it was long ago, she _had_ seen gardens before. She remembered her mother's perfectly: there were lemon trees as far as the eye could see, along with other flowers in every shade of the rainbow and then some. Her mother liked the lemon trees especially because the flowers the produced were beautiful, and they gave off a sweet, delicious perfume. And if you ever grew tired of the flowers, well, it bore you fruit as well.

_Two hundred and seventeen…_

She'd forgotten the appearance of many things, and she'd forget more things as the years passed. She'd soon forget the shade of blue the sky was, the color of the setting sun… she'd even forget the sight of the lemon trees. But she'd never forget the sight of her mother.

_Two hundred and eighteen…_

Or Lelouch.

_Two hundred and nineteen…_

Her pile of cranes was swiftly escalating. Eventually, she would reach one thousand, but she didn't mind the wait for that day to come. It was very calming, folding the cranes, forming the dreams and wishes ever so slowly.

_Two hundred and twenty…_

Her fingers slid across another sheet, folding the wings. She wasn't sure of what she'd wish for when she finally finished.

_Two hundred and twenty-one…_

It was between Lelouch's eternal safety…

_Two hundred and twenty-two…_

Or the complete and total defeat of the terrorist Zero.

She wondered if she could have both.

* * *

Suzaku Kuryugi had three cranes lined up: A pink one, a purple one, and a black one: Euphie, Lelouch, and Zero.

Euphie's was for her soul, but was completely unnecessary. Without a doubt, Euphie was in eternal paradise, wherever that was.

He wasn't sure why he'd made on for Lelouch, however. Maybe it represented memories, before Zero, before Japanese was "Area Eleven." But as of now, Lelouch was not Zero… Suzaku _hoped_ he wasn't at least. But did that really absolve his sins? Hardly.

As for Zero's crane, the one that was, naturally, black, well…

Suzaku crumpled it into his fist and then shredded it into a million pieces, sighing happily when he'd finished. The sight of the black scraps everywhere gave him a childish sense of satisfaction. He was being immature, but he didn't care.

Well.

That was nearly as satisfying as if he could crumple and tear the real Zero.

* * *

Rolo had two cranes. Both were minuscule, having been made out of half an index card. As Rolo waited for Lelouch to come out, he sat on the steps of Ashford, thinking. One was for him, one for Lelouch. Blue and green.

Could a crane save him from eternal damnation?

Not likely.

Maybe if he put an effort into it and tried for a thousand, but he just… wasn't devoted enough. Plus, one thousand or one million cranes, nothing would be enough to erase his sins… the bloodshed…

Rolo put the two small birds beside him, not wanting to think about it, and twisted the locket attached to his phone nervously.

A shrill bell rang and students came pouring out of the halls. Rolo moved out of their way, scooting over so they didn't step on him.

A foot came from behind and stepped on one of the cranes. The student who'd crushed it looked down, but didn't bother to apologize.

Rolo lifted the bird silently. It was a sky blue shade-- his. The green, Lelouch's, still stood unharmed. He crumpled the remains of the blue crane.

So paper folding wouldn't save him. He felt foolish for even considering it.

But at this point, he was willing to try anything.

* * *

Lelouch scratched his nose again.

"Do you have a cold?" Rivalz asked innocently. Lelouch rolled his eyes.

"Don't know why, Lelouch," Rivalz continued, turning back to his homework. "But there are a lot of people thinking about you today."

* * *

**For those of you who actually remember this from when you were little kids, yes, I did screw up the superstition. It's actually supposed to be, when your nose itches, someone is _talking _about you. However, I'm not afraid to screw things up if it's to the benifit of my story.**

**I'll try to update this weekly but I'm not making any promises. Also, hate to be a review whore, but it's just a fact that I tend to update more often when I get more reviews. It's just because reviews inspire me to write. Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you thought: what could be improved, what should stay the same.**


	2. Bitten

**Yeah, this idea came to me, so it's getting updated unnaturally quickly. It's really poorly written because I was trying to finish an essay for English and type this at the same time. Ah well.**

**Title: Bitten  
Genre: Humor  
Characters: Lelouch, Asa/Arthur depending on your translation, and Suzaku  
Fiction Rating: K  
Pairings: N/A**

**Summary: **Ever wonder why Arthur takes so much pleasure in biting Suzaku? Knowing Lelouch, he probably had something to do with it...

* * *

**Bitten**

* * *

"Ouch!"

Lelouch looked up from his book, across the room at Suzaku who'd been studying for an exam scheduled for his next period. He just managed to catch as Arthur sped out of the room, almost too fast to see.

"He hates me!" Suzaku complained, his bitten finger in his mouth.

"I don't think that's the case," Lelouch said, chuckling. He knew better.

* * *

-COUPLE 'A MONTHS AGO-

Lelouch sighed, looking at the massive pile of books in front of him. He had several overdue assignments, and was slowly loosing points on each of them simply for not turning them in on time. He had half a mind to just use Geass on all of his teachers and be done with it, but he didn't know if he was quite ready to risk it yet. After all, he was still discovering and studying the limits of the power.

Remembering this, Lelouch stood and walked over to the window of the Student Council room. Outside, a dark haired girl was etching a cross into a brick. Hm. So far, so good. Lelouch strode back over to his books.

Why was he such a procrastinator? He silently cursed his duties as Zero. And then he took it back. That was just stupid.

He pulled a large textbook off of the top of the pile, and set a sheet of paper next to it. He'd start with the essays and work his way down.

He put his pen on the paper. Eventually, he'd think of something.

Hmmm…

Lelouch's fruitless brainstorm was interrupted by a small, black paw stepping on his blank paper. He looked up to see Arthur, the frisky and rather annoying cat that had made its home around the halls of Ashford.

Lelouch cocked his head at Arthur.

Arthur cocked his head at Lelouch.

The two sat there for a moment or so, staring each other down. Lelouch felt like an idiot.

Finally, Arthur got bored, licked Lelouch on the nose, and pranced off.

Annoyed, but not enough to do anything about it, Lelouch wiped of his nose and returned to his blank paper, tapping his pen against the table in thought.

"Mew!" Arthur called Lelouch from his perch atop a high bookshelf. Now _thoroughly_ annoyed, Lelouch got up and snatched the cat from the bookshelf, holding it at arm's length away like it was poisonous.

Arthur mewed again, innocently. Anyone but Lelouch might think it was cute.

He instead thought of the girl he'd used to test the limits of the Geass.

Any remaining feelings of annoyance being washed away by those of curiosity, Lelouch brought the dangling cat closer to his face. Though he wasn't sure that the ability to use Geass on animals would be that useful, it would be an interesting experiment nonetheless…

As he brought the cat up to eye level, the familiar sensation that the Geass spread throughout his body returned. "Arthur…"

Lelouch lowered the confused cat, blinking away the Geass. What could he tell a cat to do, that he'd actually be _able _to do?

There was a knock on the door. "Lelouch? You in there?" Suzaku's voice called.

"Just a second," Lelouch called to his friend.

Lelouch turned back to Arthur, the Geass again firing up. "Bite him," he whispered hastily, determined not to pass up the opportunity to experiment, and saying the first thing that came to mind. He put Arthur down and walked over to let Suzaku in.

"Hey. I think I left my text book in here," Suzaku explained, scanning the room for his book.

"Oh," Lelouch said, eyeing Arthur.

"Aha!" Suzaku grabbed his book off the desk and tucking it under his arm. He glanced at his friend. "Lelouch? You alright?"

"Uh, yeah," Lelouch said, taking his eyes off of the cat and looking up at Suzaku. Obviously this was one of the limits of Geass; it didn't seem to work on animals.

Suzaku put his hand on the desk, leaning on it as he spoke. "Have you seen Milly? I had to give her—ouch!" Arthur had run up to Suzaku's unguarded hand and bitten his finger, hard. Lelouch couldn't help but grin after the cat as he sped out of the room.

Shaking his hand with a wince, Suzaku looked after the cat. "Wonder why he did that," he said.

"Yeah," Lelouch agreed. "Wonder why."

* * *

-PRESENT-

"What do you mean by that?" Suzaku asked, raising a curious eyebrow at the young Britannian.

"Nothing, of course," Lelouch said, flipping a page in his book. "But maybe Arthur doesn't have a say in the matter."

Suzaku looked down at his textbook, baffled by Lelouch's vague answer.

* * *

**Sorry if I screwed up the timeline or something... and remember, I've only gotten up to episode 10 r2. So. Just keep that in mind. x)**

**Oh, and thanks to all of my loyal reviewers! -Sarcasm-  
Heheh. None of you guys reviewed. You make me so sad. x.x Thanks to those of you who actually did! (LawlietxRinoa and Sakuramsm.)**

**I'll update as soon as I get a chance.**

**-Moony**


	3. Wench

**Finally updating! It seems like it's been forever, even though it's only been a coupl'a days. It's not that I'm out of ideas (already), it's just that I haven't had the time to type and post this. I'm very far from out of ideas, so don't worry. Anyway. C.C.'s persona is a very difficult and challenging one to imitate, so I'd love some feedback on how close I got to the real deal. Hope you like it anyway.**

**Title: Wench  
****Fiction Rating: K  
Genre: Um... Is Kallen's humiliation a genre? I humiliate her so often in my fics... I have nothing against the girl, she's just so easy to pick on. Mild humor. General.  
****Characters: Kallen, C.C.  
Pairings: Hm... could be Lelouch/C.C. if you really wanted to look at it that way, but it certainly isn't centered around that.**

**Summary:** All Kallen wanted to do was get to know her. However, C.C. doesn't really want to get to know anyone. That much is painfully clear. Kallen can't help but peg her as a useless wench.

* * *

**Wench**

* * *

C.C. just looked so alone, sitting there in the small, empty lunch room. It was like her, Kallen guessed, to not mind being alone. The girl was quiet, but not in the shy sort of way. More in the… was proud the right word? It was almost as if the discussions the Black Knights had were simply too trite in her eyes for her to offer her input.

It was just in Kallen's nature to be compelled to sit by her. In all honesty, she didn't know how much she even wanted to; she barely knew the girl, after all. She knew enough about her, it would seem, but it didn't… know her. They hadn't exchanged a full sentence, directly anyway, since they'd met.

Not that they really had met… Zero'd just shown up with her. Being Zero, he naturally didn't introduce her, nor did he acknowledge her in any way at all. But from that point on, C.C. had been there whenever Zero was, standing silently in the background. She remained silent as he gave his commands, not contributing in the slightest. Yet Kallen knew she had her say in things, as she always followed Zero behind those locked doors where none of the Black Knights ever dared to go. Kallen had reason to believe she'd seen the man behind the mask, and made her opinion and input clear there. One on one. With Zero.

It wasn't for sure, but this girl probably had more say in Zero's decisions than the entirety of the Black Knights.

As Kallen slid onto the bench across from the green haired mistress. She offered a weak, faltering smile. On the walk over, her own thoughts had discourage her. The beauty eyed her, almost suspiciously.

Kallen had meant to say "hello," or _something_ for that matter, but she found her mouth had completely dried by the time she'd made her way over to the long, mess hall table. Instead, she peeled the lid off of her Insta-Ramen. It occurred to her how traditionally Asian the ramen was—was she trying to make a silent statement of her loyalty? Or was she just hungry for ramen?

She looked at her opposer's meal: a generously large slice of pepperoni pizza. Kallen wondered where she put it all.

"Yes? What would you like to know?" C.C.'s soft yet firm voice interrupted Kallen's speculations. She spoke flawless Japanese, as if it were her native tongue. Yet she didn't look it. Kallen shook it off, accepting that there were a lot of thing she didn't know, would never know, about this girl.

"Sorry?" Kallen asked, perturbed by her strange question.

"About Zero. It's the only reason any of the Knights ever speak to me of their own accord. Especially the female ones." C.C.'s gaze looked suspicious and irritated. After a second, she tore her eyes away from Kallen's and looked lovingly at her slice of greasy pizza. "So, what'll it be? Age? Appearance? Name? Preferences?"

"Oh, no, it's none of that." Kallen felt a blush creeping onto her cheeks. "I just—I don't know. Wanted to sit."

"Oh, that's such a pity." C.C. picked a slice of pepperoni off of her pizza, popped it into her mouth, chewed, and swallowed.

"I was rather looking forward to turning you down. Next time, then, I suppose."

Kallen blinked. As C.C. probably hoped, she felt extremely insulted and unwelcome. C.C.'s disinterested catlike gaze was so—so belittling.

"I'll just—I guess I'll just go eat somewhere else, then," Kallen offered.

"That's quite alright. I've indirectly grown rather fond of you as of late." C.C.'s eyes were fixed on her pizza.

"Really?" Kallen attempted to cover her flattered smile by looking down to snap her chopsticks apart. C.C.? Fond of her? If it were true, C.C. did a very good job of covering it up.

"Of course. It's extremely amusing to watch your constant blunders and mistakes. I especially like it when you blush after saying something stupid."

"_Oh_?" Kallen repeated in a completely different, irritated tone.

"Yes. Each time you walk into a room, I know that I'm in for a treat."

Kallen didn't know whether to not care, or to voice her annoyance. As she debated it inwardly, C.C. continued.

"Of course, the blunders and blushes only multiply and redden when Zero is around."

"I—I—C.C.!" Kallen stammered, jaw dropping.

"Yes?" C.C. asked innocently.

"You're… you're… that was very rude."

"Yes, and?"

Kallen felt her eyes narrowing before she registered she was glaring. To think she'd thought so highly of Zero's personal mistress, and she turned out to be a complete snob.

"Did I do something to make you dislike me?" Kallen demanded.

"Who says I dislike you?"

C.C. and Kallen stared each other in the eye, both gazes of equal intensity. For a moment, all was completely silent but for the unusually heavy breaths Kallen took.

C.C. spoke first.

"You people—you all enjoy so much believing your lives are so horrendously difficult. It's as if by surviving something so trivial-- even dying in it-- makes one's life exceptional: something to remember. Suffer what I have suffered, then come back and tell me if this is fair."

"And what have _you_ suffered that is so outstanding?" Kallen demanded.

"Fate," C.C. said simply. "That I could not even try to alter."

"That's vague," Kallen pointed out.

"It wouldn't be if you had lived it," C.C. replied, biting again into her pizza.

"I _do_ live it!" Kallen insisted. "Every day!"

"To a lesser extent," C.C. clarified stubbornly.

"What about the Black Knights? What about Zero? Have they not suffered?"

"Black Knights, Zero. Black Knights, Zero." C.C. said in a tuneless song. "Do any of you speak of anything else? Of your outside lives?"

Kallen considered pointing out that they were on a submarine for the organization of the _Black Knights_, led by the terrorist, _Zero_. Instead, she said, "The Black Knights and Zero _are_ my life."

"Zero? I'll let him know the next time I see him."

Kallen's eyes widened against her will and liking. "When will _that_ be?"

"Sooner than _you_ speak to him. By then, I'll have already poured my nasty thoughts along with your childish, humiliating secrets into his awareness. Is that what you're afraid of, Kallen Kozuki?"

Kallen didn't know how to respond to that.

C.C.'s snake-like gaze captured and clung onto Kallen's. "Are you afraid of my thoughts touching him, Kozuki, is that it? Or are you afraid of my _hands_ touching him?"

Kallen stood, grabbing her things. "I don't have to worry about Zero's rude, immature mistress, or her sick ideas. I don't have to sit here and be insulted by his... his _wench_!"

For a heartbeat, C.C. just stared at Kallen's angered face, expressionless.

And then--

"I'd like to borrow my wench, if at all possible," Zero's voice said.

Kallen looked up to the doorway to see the masked terrorist, his mask hiding his expression, making it impossible to tell if he was amused or annoyed. "We have some matters to attain to."

Leaving her mess for someone else to clean, C.C. stood and joined Zero in the doorway.

"O-of course," Kallen choked out, shock and horror causing her face to redden.

"Also, I'd prefer we maintain some order of respect around these halls-- in the future, refer to C.C. as _C.C._ If that's too hard for you to handle, feel free to refer to her as _ma'am._"

"Y-yes," Kallen stuttered, positive it wasn't wise to argue the point or set him straight.

As the two walked away, C.C. turned her head, her eyes completely expressionless, to say, with no hint of hostility at all,

"Nice talking to you, Kallen-chan."

"_Wench_," Kallen repeated when she was sure the two were out of earshot.

* * *

**Kallen just happens to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time. C.C. is such an interesting character, so much fun to write. Really. But I wonder if there are any stories up my sleeve that don't involve Lelouch? x)**

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Moony**


	4. Checkmate

**It's weird; this was one of those stories that you start, and then you file it away and don't come back to it for a couple of weeks, and then when you try to finish it, you have no idea where you intended to go with it. So. If I could've remembered how I planned it out, then maybe this'd be a better addition. Maybe it would be worse. The world will never know.**

**Also, I kind of know that Rolo is gigantically out of character in this, in and of the fact that he's being mean to Lelouch. This is set, maybe, right after Lelouch tells Rolo that he's still "his 'brother'" even though he got his memory back (maybe... r2 turn 3 or 4? I can't say for sure)****, so Rolo isn't very used to it yet, which is why he's questioning it. ****Rolo and C.C. are neck and neck in the contest of who's harder to write! They're both just... so _unique!_ So again, let me know if I'm getting it. (Besides, like I said, the fact that he's questiong Lulu.)**

* * *

**Title: Checkmate  
****Fiction Rating: K  
Genre: Hostility/Drama?  
Characters: Rolo and Lelouch  
Pairings: N/A**

**Summary: **Rolo is just a pawn in Lelouch's vast chess game, to be used and discarded when he becomes useless. He could never bring himself to harm Lelouch, even though he's aware of this. For the time being, Lelouch is safe, but he still needs to know that, should the need arise, Rolo has a foolproof shortcut to checkmate that works every time.

* * *

**Checkmate**

* * *

Rolo's eyes stayed fixed on the chess board as he heard the door slowly creak open. The light that entered the dim room as the door was open was nearly blinding to Rolo's eyes, adjusted to the dark. He winced away from the glare as a darkened, lanky figure slipped into the room and graciously closed the door behind him. How long had Rolo been just _sitting _there, waiting? Even he himself wasn't sure.

"Rolo? What are you doing, sitting in the dark?" Lelouch asked. Rolo shut his eyes tight as Lelouch clicked the light on.

A few quiet _clomps_ told Rolo that Lelouch was crossing the room. "I told you I'd be out late, and to go to sleep, didn't I?" Lelouch's voice was filled with a pained concern. It sounded sincere enough, but you could never be sure, especially not with Lelouch.

"How long have you been sitting there?" There was a _click_ as Lelouch turned on a nearby lamp, illuminating the rest of the room. Rolo opened his eyes.

"I don't know." He hadn't said anything so honest in ages.

Lelouch sighed fatherly. "It's late; you should—" His voice stopped short as his eyes fell over the chess board. His eyes, now slightly narrowed and suspicious, flicked back up to question Rolo's.

"Chess?"

Rolo nodded. What else could he use but chess? What else could illustrate his thoughts so avidly? Could demonstrate his concerns? Chess, with its mind constricting mental battle of wits, and it's sharp and sneaky moves… well, it was a metaphor of their lives.

"The king…?" Lelouch's voice trailed off in an unfinished question.

Rolo looked down at the board. The black king was in the exact center of the board, lying between the black and white pieces. It was almost as if it were challenging the other pieces to _try_ to stop it. To _dare_ to oppose it.

"I thought it would be obvious; that one is Zero."

Lelouch's eyes widened only slightly, his violet irises locking onto Rolo's identical ones. They engaged in a silent contest of will, staring at each other, waiting for the other to crack. But momentarily, Lelouch slid into the chair across from Rolo, who blinked and looked at the board. Maybe the contest had just been in his head.

Lelouch looked up again to stare at Rolo, wordlessly asking him to proceed.

"We are all just pawns in your scheme, Lelouch."

Out of nowhere, Lelouch gave a chuckle, a new, bemused expression on his face. "Who is 'we'?"

Rolo had anticipated that question.

He raised his hand over the white pieces and reached the black ones on the side Lelouch sat at. With a flick, he knocked over the first black pawn. "Euphemia."

Lelouch winced, the smile falling off of his face. He looked down, shame coloring his cheeks faintly.

Rolo went on.

"The Black Knights." _Flick_. "Kozuki." _Flick._ "Shirley, Milly, and Rivalz." _Flick, flick, flick._ He hesitated only briefly, but soon continued.

"Rolo," he concluded, giving the final pawn a flick, sending it toppling over.

Rolo stared at the pawns lying there. They seemed lifeless, although he knew they were never at any point alive. His eyes passed over each in turn, matching a name to all of them. He soon raised his eyes to look at Lelouch. "Need I go on?"

Lelouch wasn't listening to him. His hand was balled up into a fist.

"Euphie was _never_ a pawn." His eyes were contorted in anger; this was the anger that Rolo felt Lelouch eternally felt for him, without letting it show. Lelouch, master of deceit and sleight of hand.

Rolo could feel a small smirk tugging at his reluctant lips. He felt that, with this anger that had shone through so quickly, he had began undoing Lelouch. Picking at his mind. The _real_ Lelouch… _Zero_.

"I am saying what I know to be true," Rolo said simply.

Lelouch's voice quavered, like he was either on the verge of tears, or on the verge of punching Rolo in the face. "There is a fine line between _truthfulness_ and _cruelty._"

"Some of us prefer to look at it a different way."

Rolo watched Lelouch. The young Britannian's eyes were fixed on the chessboard, flickering rapidly from one emotion to the next. Confusion turned to anger, and anger to pain. The ghosts of his mistakes made constant visits.

Lelouch looked up as Rolo cocked his head questioningly at him.

"I hate to see you being so weak, Lelouch."

It was certainly strange to see Lelouch acting as such. Normally, around Rolo at least, Lelouch acted like an ideal older brother: loving, caring, looking out for him. Never questioning his ideas, and only correcting him when necessary. Sometimes Rolo caught himself buying into Lelouch's bag of tricks.

Sometimes he wished he _always_ bought into Lelouch's bag of tricks. Things would be so much easier if he could believe that his 'older brother' actually _was_ ideal. But in truth, Lelouch was probably the _opposite_ of ideal.

Rolo's contemplation was interrupted. Lelouch, offering no response to Rolo's previous jibe, was slowly setting his black pawns upright again, slowly, one by one. Rolo could tell, with each pawn, a different person was flashing through his mind. After setting the last pawn up straight, Lelouch picked up the black king from the middle of the board and put it in its proper place.

He looked up at Rolo, a challenge flashing in his eyes.

"White moves first."

Rolo's retort caught in his throat.

Lelouch's mouth tugged into a satisfied, arrogant smirk at Rolo's response and baffled expression. Rolo knew that it was obvious that the way Lelouch responded to him had not been anticipated. Rolo had not prepared a response to this, and yet, his ever working mind was quickly fabricating a solution.

Lelouch cocked his head at Rolo in the same way Rolo had cocked his head at him, only moments before.

"Or do you not play chess?"

Rolo recovered, friskily shaking it off.

"I play." Rolo hesitated. "…Well enough."

With a firm, decided hand, Rolo moved one of his white pawns onto the board.

Without a second's hesitation, Lelouch moved one of his knights into the game.

"Risky," Rolo commented quietly.

"I know what I'm doing."

It was as if the burdens of their previous conversation had simply melted away. The two collapsed into silence as the game progressed, not once looking up to meet the other's eye. As Lelouch's pile of captured pieces piled up, a smirk slowly grew on his face.

The game didn't last long; it was obvious who harbored the skill. Yet the familiar sensation of undoubted defeat never reached Rolo's awareness. He knew what he was doing as well.

Rolo spotted the move that he needed, the one that would bring the game to an end. He moved his bishop and captured one of Lelouch's several remaining pawns.

Lelouch didn't hide his grin as his hand moved towards his black queen. He was moving in for checkmate.

The familiar, almost-invisible red haze of Geass bled throughout the room. Lelouch's hand froze in mid air, hovering over the queen he was about to use to destroy Rolo.

"You again get ahead of yourself, Zero," Rolo murmured, blatantly aware that the man he was addressing was completely incapable of hearing a word that he said.

He turned the chessboard around. Now _his_ pieces, the black ones, were in the lead. The Geass evaporated just in time.

Rolo watched Lelouch's expression morph from smugness to confusion with a sense of contentment, and instead of saying anything, picked up the black queen that had, at one time, been Lelouch's, and moved it so that it was directly in the path of his white king.

"I believe that's checkmate."

It didn't take long for Lelouch to realize what had just been pulled.

"I believe that's ridiculously immature, Rolo." Lelouch looked up from the board. Instead of bearing a disgruntled frown, like Rolo had accepted, Lelouch was sporting a rather brotherly grin. "I like to believe that I've taught you better than that."

Something flickered inside of Rolo. For a moment, he wanted to grin along with Lelouch, apologize for being so unfair, and then move on like nothing had happened. But that wasn't like Rolo. Rolo never grinned. He left the grinning to the ones who led the naïve, yet unfairly simple and pleasurable lives.

The weak, faint flicker died out nearly instantly. No, Rolo wouldn't grin.

Instead, he pulled from his pocket the beautiful, glimmering switchblade that he kept on his person at all times.

The sharp, deadly weapon seemed to weigh a ton in his pocket every day. It felt wonderful to pull it out once again. As the blade caught his reflection briefly, he stared at his blank eyes. Would anyone, if told, believe someone as innocent looking as him had taken more lives than one could count?

The fact that, no, they wouldn't believe the statement, in _itself_ made Rolo an indispensible ally to whatever side he happened to be on at the time.

Lelouch eyed the knife cautiously.

"Rolo—"

"I'd be generously rewarded for singlehandedly taking out Zero…" Rolo's voice trailed off.

There was a pause, a lapse in conversation, when neither dared to say a word.

"But?" Lelouch finally prompted.

"What led you to think there's a 'but'?" Rolo challenged.

"That would be fratricide," Lelouch explained calmly, unperturbed by Rolo's gaze being fixed on the knife. "The killing of a brother. Which would be morally unjust."

"After all I've done, you think I still have _morals_?"

Lelouch smiled warmly. "In some cases more than others."

Rolo looked down at his knife, allowing the blade to dance, glinting, grazing over his hand. He cried out quietly as the tip of the blade pricked his index finger. Instinctively, he put the wounded finger in his mouth to stop the blood from getting everywhere.

Lelouch's eyes said, clearly, _Is_ _that what_ _you want?_

Rolo closed the switchblade.

"For the time being, we'll have to live with that," he allowed, and then paused as if deciding on how to word his next statement.

"But if necessary, you must remember that I have an infallible route straight to checkmate."

The black king's clink against the glass chess board was the only sound in the room as Rolo flicked it over.

* * *


End file.
